“Gears of War 3” is merely hours away from being played to death on your Xbox 360. In honor of the momentous release – it’s the last game in the trilogy – Microsoft has decided to throw a big old to-do at the Best Buy Theater in Times Square tonight.

The folks from Epic and Microsoft Studios will be there, partying down with diehard “GoW” fans during the launch party, which begins at 8 p.m. tonight and goes through 1 a.m. (The game itself goes on sale at midnight.) There will be plenty of early hands-on gameplay for the masses and chances to win prizes and giveaways.

For game fans who use the Twitter and the Facebook, hurry up and follow @gearsofwar3 or “like” Gears of War – Epic and Microsoft are currently running a scavenger hunt which will give you clues to places to find “Gears” reps…which in turn gives you a chance to win VIP access to tonight’s festivities and prizes, including copies of the “Gears of War 3 Epic Editions,” “Limited Collector’s Editions” and even one Limited Edition Console (which retails for about $400. The scavenger hunt runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today (Sept. 19).